Once in a Lifetime
by bnoelled16
Summary: Bad things happen for Monica but someone is there to help her through it. Chandler Bing. Is their meeting a one time thing or will it last?
1. Chapter 1

_**Hi! third story! *yay* :) **_

_**ok this is going to take place as if friends had never happened. Ross and Chandler never met which means Monica and Chandler never met. I'm not really sure on what year this is set in... Also the first chapter does not have a lot Mondler, later chapters will..**_

_**please follow and review :)**_

She walked into a somewhat crowded coffee shop. She wouldn't have believed someone if they had told her 'Monica Geller, you are going to be dating Dr. Richard Burke, your eye doctor, when you're older.' She would have laughed in their face. But here she was, 26 years old, dating a man the same age as her father. People would ask her why she was dating him. And honestly she didn't know. He was great. Very nice and charming, but she didn't feel right about him. Yes, she loved him, and she knew he loved her, but she felt as though they didn't connect. He wasn't her soulmate.

She looked down at her hand and sighed. She knew saying yes to his proposal wasn't right, but she had felt obligated considering the fact that he had done it in front of her parents.

"Excuse me, miss? Are you going to order?" The man with incredibly light hair behind the counter asked.

"Hm? Oh yes, sorry. I want a regular black coffee and 2 blueberry muffins." She said. The man nodded his head and started to make her order. She stepped over to the side so the next person behind her could order. She stepped over a little to far and bumped into someone. "Oh I'm sorry!" She said apologizing to the man.

He looked over at her, a little dumbfounded. He realized he was staring at her, making her uncomfortable, and shook it away. "Oh, uh, no you're fine. I was in your way." He shifted his position and looked down at his coffee mug he was holding.

"Miss?" The man behind the counter said. He handed her a cup of coffee and a paper bag. Monica thanked him and looked back a the guy she bumped into.

He was still looking at his mug as he spoke. "So I was wondering if sometime you would," he had looked up a little before he stopped talking. "Oh. Nevermind. I gotta go." He put his mug down and took off for the front door.

Monica was confused. She shook off the awkwardness and left the coffee shop. As she walked towards Richard's, she thought about his proposal the night before. He had looked at her and then over to her parents, both of which were teary eyed, and he had gotten down from his chair and knelt onto one knee.

She wanted to tell him to get up. She wanted him to stop and to not say anything. She wanted to run from the restaurant and to never look back. It wasn't because she was afraid of marriage. She had actually wanted to be married and have a family, it was because she didn't want to marry him. Yes, he was a great man and very romantic, she loved him, but she wasn't _in _love with him.

She arrived at his apartment and climbed the stairs to his floor. She never knocked on his door but today she did. Richard open his apartment door, confused on why she was knocking.

"You know you don't have to knock, sweetheart." He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"I know." She said. "Here, I got these for you." She handed him the bag and the coffee. He took them from her and set them onto the coffee table. He started to come towards her for a hug but she stopped him. "Oh. Richard. We, we need to talk."

"Okay. What about?" He asked.

"The engagement." She said walking passed him to sit down.

"oh?" He questioned. He went over to the couch and sat down, turning to face her.

She sat and played with the ring he had given her the night before. "Well, This is very difficult for me to say." Richard looked at her with an ever so slight confused and nervous look. She inhaled sharply and mustered as much strength as she could. She began to speak, hesitantly. "I don't want to marry you. Don't get me wrong, honey, I love you, but, I'm not in love with you." She slipped off the ring from her delicate shaking hand and put it into Richard's large hands. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the hurt in his face. "I'm sorry," she whispered horsely. Soft tears fell from her eyes and trickled down her face, slowly. She wiped them away with her sleeve and stood up.

"I'll let myself out." She said. She had caught a glimpse of Richard before she left his apartment. His usually happy eyes were lowered and glazed over. A single tear rolled down his cheek and he sat very rigid. He had a sad frown and his hand was open with the ring sitting in the middle of his palm.

Monica tried to stay strong but lost it when she went down the stairs. She walked onto the street and toward her apartment. She was looking down when she had bumped into someone, again.

She sniffed, trying to contain herself long enough to say sorry. "Sorry." She muttered. She looked up and was shocked to see the same guy she had bumped in the coffee house.

"Wow! Twice in one day." he exclaimed. Monica smiled but it soon dropped. "I know I don't really know you, but, are you okay?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah." She said looking back down. She wiped the rest of her tears.

"You're crying. That doesn't seem to be 'okay' to me." He said.

She shook her head. "No it's not. I don't want to burden you with my problems though."

"I don't really mind." He spoke sympathetically. "What's your name?"

"Monica Geller. And yours?"

"Chandler Bing." He stuck out his hand. She mimicked him and they shook hands. "Well, Monica, would you like to join me for lunch?"

Lunch sound good. She nodded along and they walked side by side to a little diner.

**_*well there's the first chapter! Did you like it? Please leave a review and tell me what you thought. :)_**


	2. Chapter 2

They sat down at a table in the corner of the little diner-like restaurant. An older woman came over and took their orders. When she left, Chandler looked at Monica.

"So Monica," he said. "What do you do?"

That was a good question. She wasn't really sure. She had been working at a restaurant but had been fired when there was a mix up.

"I am a chef." She said. "But nothing fancy. I actually just got layed off from my job."

"Aw, that sucks. I'm sorry." Chandler said.

"That's okay. People were jerks there anyway." she said, disappointment in her voice.

"Is that why you were crying?" He asked quietly.

"No, that's a different story." She said looking at Chandler. This was the first time she _actually_ looked at him. Like, really looked. He had a soft half-smile, that showed his softer side, short brown hair, and green eyes that showed a spark of child-like and a spark of romance and a hint of seriousness. They kept drawing her in.

He spoke, interrupting her 'studying.' "You can share why you were crying," he said quietly."But only if you want to though."

"It's kinda a long story," she trailed her voice off a little.

"I don't mind." Chandler said.

"Ok," she said. She guessed he would tone out anyway. She just need to talk to somebody. "Well the night before last, I was out with my boyfriend and my parents at this really fancy restaurant. We were out for something my father and Richard, my boyfriend, had done at the club house, or so I thought. We got to our table, ordered and as soon as the waiter left, he got down from his chair and proposed."

He nodded slowly, as if not paying attention. "Wait, aren't proposals supposed to be a happy moment?" This shocked Monica. He was actually listening.

"They are. But not if you don't really want to marry this guy."

"Did you not love him?"

"I do," she said but she corrected herself "did. But it was more in the father-type way, I guess you would say. He and my dad were pretty close."

"Oh, how old was this guy, Rick?"

"Richard, and he was the same age as my dad. Maybe a year or 2 younger."

Monica waited for the judgement, for the laugh. But nothing. Chandler just sat there.

He seemed to have understood. "Then why didn't you break it off with him, or stopped the proposal."

"We were with my parents. And in a busy restaurant. I just said yes out of reflex." he nodded as if to agree. "Well today, after I went to the coffee shop, I went to his apartment and broke it off with him. Which is why I was crying. I mean, I was with him for 4 years." she started to think back on all the times they had together.

She had apparently started to cry or something because Chandler's hand was on top of hers.

"Hey," he said, a notch above a whisper. Monica looked at him and he looked back at her. "It's going to be okay. This is just a step forward in your life, look at it as a new chapter in the book called life. And one day, you'll meet your 'Prince Charming' and live a wonderful, full life with him." He gave her a genuine smile.

It was so sweet. This random guy, one she had just met this morning, couldn't have been any nicer.

"Thanks Chandler."

Their food finally came. Chandler had a burger and fries while Monica ate some grilled chicken. When they were finished, Monica grabbed her purse and started to reach inside for money to pay for her meal.

"No, no. thats okay. I got it." he reached into his wallet and took out 20 dollars. He layed it on the table and got up from his chair. "Walk you home?"

Monica nodded and stood up.

They walked, silently for the first 5 minutes.

"You never told me about you. So Chandler what do you do?"

He sighed. "I have the most boring job in the world. Data reconfiguration."

"Oh."

Chandler laughed. "See it doesn't even sound interesting. And other than that, I don't really do much." he said. They walked half a block before her spoke again. "I have a roommate. He has girls over all the time though."

"Do you not like him having girls over?"

"No, that's fine by me. What I don't really care for is listening to them have sex." He held up two fingers about half an inch wide. "And the walls are about this thin."

Monica laughed. He was funny and really nice. Monica liked him. And she was pretty sure he liked her. "anything else?"

Chandler clapped his hands together trying to think of something. "Oh not really. I'm single. I haven't had a girlfriend for a year and half. And I don't know why I shared that." he made a nervous laugh.

"That's okay." Monica said sweetly. "Oh this is my apartment." She said and they stopped in front of a tan building.

Chandler looked up at the building and back at Monica. "Well, Monica. It was nice to meet and hang out with you today." He leaned over and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek.

"It was good to meet you as well. Thanks for listening to my crazy problem." She said. She walked away from him and started to go into her building."

"I hope we can do it again, sometime." Chandler called out.

she turned her head before she entered the apartment building to look at him. "We will." She called back. And she meant it.

**_a/n soo how'd you like it? :) leave a review and tell me what you thought. More reviews more updates :)_**


	3. Chapter 3

***caution: gets a little disturbing.***

She kicked herself for not getting his number. A week after she met Chandler, she walked by a restaurant and saw someone struggling on the phone outside. The man clicked his phone off and took a deep breath.

"Uhm. Are you ok?" She asked cautiously.

"Well I guess. But my chef quit." he angrily answered.

"oh. I'm sorry." She started to walk away but then realized the opportunity. "Are you looking for a new one, soon? I am a chef."

"You are?" He asked taking a quick interest into what Monica had to say.

Monica nodded.

"Would you like to come in and show me a few cooking techniques?"

He showed her inside and she showed him some her her cooking skills. She soon was given the job!

~.~

She couldn't believe that it had been 6 weeks since last seeing Chandler. She thought about him at least once everyday. She wished she could have gotten his number. She'd thought about looking him up, but never built up the courage to do so.

~.~

One night, she was working late. It was well after midnight when she started to close up. Her boss came in, stumbling drunk.

"Oh hi. I was just closing up. What are you doing here?"

"You- you know what sucks? being stood up! That's what sucks." He said, slurring his words together. He was dressed nicely, in a black suit and tie. He was holding a beer and set it down on the counter. He slumped up against the wall.

"Ok, Pete. You're drunk. Come on, lets go get you a taxi." She wrapped her arm around his waist.

"No," he said shaking his head. "No!" he screamed. He grabbed Monica by the neck and slammed her against the wall making her smack her head. He removed his hand from her neck and put it against the wall. "Why can't I find girl like you?" He said, his breath reeking of alcohol, inches away from her face.

"I don't know." she said trying to push him off of her. He fought against her. "Get off of me!" She said sternly. He started to kiss her neck but she used all of her strength left and pushed him off of her. When he started coming towards her again, she slapped him in the face, hard.

"What the hell was that for?" he said holding his cheek, doubled over. She took a step away from him, still against the wall. Pete came up from his position and smacked her across the face making her fall. He was on the floor next to her kissing where he smacked her.

"I'm sorry baby." He whispered. He pushed back some of her hair.

Monica made a small groaning sound and smacked his hand away. Pete, now steaming with anger, climbed on top of her. He started to undo his pants when Monica realized what was happening. She freed one of her hands and balled it into a fist. She smacked him, as hard as she could, in his crotch. He cupped his hands over it. Monica wiggled herself from under him and started to run out the back. She came back and kicked him as hard as she could.

Monica ran out the back and into the alley. She ran to the left and looked behind her. A stumbling drunk and in pain Pete was coming out of the back door. He would n't have been able to catch her but she still ran. She didn't know where she was going to run to. She couldn't really see, tears were stinging her eyes.

Every few steps, she would look behind her. Pete's outline kept getting smaller and smaller in the distance. At some point she had slowed down and was speed walking. She didn't know where she was.

"Monica?" She heard someone call.

She turned around and saw a familiar face. "Chandler?" she barely was able to get anything out.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" He said coming up to her. "What's wrong?" he had seen her speeding along the side walk and was concerned. "You're bleeding!"

Monica was confused for a second, then remembered being slammed against a wall. She reached up and felt her head. It was cold and wet and she knew that it wasn't a small cut.

"Oh my god! Your face is all red. What happened?" he said, worried.

Monica couldn't say anything. She tried but nothing came out. She just cried harder.

"Come on," he said. "I'll take you to my apartment and get you cleaned up." He grabbed her arm carefully and put it around his shoulders. He wrapped his arm around her waist.

Half-way up the stair well, Monica became dizzy. Chandler, sensing this, picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.

**_*aw look the end of this chapter. You will have to stay with this to find out what happened in Chandler's apartment :) so follow and review and tell me what you think of this so far! Sorry for a short chapter )x_**


	4. Chapter 4

**_AN: I have a few things to say/ask and you don't have to read it if you don't want to, just skip over it and go straight to the story :)_**

**_Ok, first off, I want to ask this question: does this story show up on the main page? When I go to look for it, it's never there... I just want to know if you guys have the same problem... Maybe it's because of the rating... _**

**_Secondly, I have never ever written anything like what I did in last chapter [3] I mean, never. That was my first time writing like that. Was it okay? It wasn't to creepy or disturbing was it?_**

**_Alright well those were the only things I wanted to know.. Ok onto the story! :)_**

Chandler opened his apartment door and carried Monica inside. He layed her down carefully on the couch. He grabbed a rag from the cabinet in the bathroom and wet it. He went back to Monica and knelt infront of her. He slowly and gently put the rag against the cut on her head. She winced.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"It's ok." She said. She started to sit up.

"No, stay laying down." He said and she listened. "That cut looks bad, you may need to go to the hospital for stitches." He said, studying the cut. He handed her the rag.

She pressed it against her head and winced again. "No, I'll be fine." She sighed. "How've you been?" she steered the conversation away from the cut and what happened. She didn't want to talk about it yet.

"Not to bad. I was promoted."

"Congratulations!" She said, touching his arm with her free hand.

"Thanks. I really hate it."

"Oh. Then why don't you quit? Do something you like?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. I want to do advertising, but for now, my job is fine."

"Oh. Advertising. That's cool! I actually know someone from my old neighborhood that works in advertising. I could see if they have an opening for you, if you want."

"Sure! That'd be great!" he said happily. "Thanks!"

The room fell silent. Monica put her feet on the floor and patted the seat next to her for Chandler. He, willingly, sat beside her.

She took the rag off her head and folded it so that the blood was on the inside and the clean part on the outside.

"Here. Let me look at it." Chandler said. He leaned over and slowly moved her hair so he was able to see the cut. "Well the bleeding has slowed down a little. I still think you need stitches."

She nodded her head. "If it's still bleeding in an hour, I'll go." He nodded in agreement. She brought the rag back up to her head. He tucked his leg underneath the other and faced her; she mirrored him. "So what's new?" he asked. He didn't really know what else to say.

"I found a job about a week after I met you."

"Thats great!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah. I guess." she sighed. "I'm pretty sure I quit tonight though." She spoke distantly.

"Oh." he said sadly. He waited a minute then spoke slowly and caringly. "What happened?"

She sighed and closed her eyes. "The job was going really well! Until tonight. I was closing up and my boss came in. Drunk. He was stood up on a date; at least that's what he was saying when he came in. He slumped against the wall and I tried to take him outside so he could get a ride to go home but he gr-grabbed me by my neck and, uh, slammed me against the wall." She paused to calm herself before crying again and opened her eyes.

Chandler was horrified that someone would even do that to Monica. Or anyone for that matter. Monica could see the horrific look on Chandler's face. She looked down, took a sharp breath, and continued. "And I guess that's how I got the cut on my head." she sighed. Chandler put his hand on top of hers and that made her smile. There was something amazing about him.

She smiled from the touch, but it faded. "Then he tried to kiss me and I pushed him away. He started to come towards me so I slapped him as hard as could. He doubled over and I started to slide across the wall so I could run out the door but he smacked me and I blacked out for a second. When I snapped back, he was kissing my face where he hit it and I weakly pushed him away." Her eyes were stinging and she was unsure if she could continue but she had to tell someone about this perv.

"I guess that just pissed him off more. He climbed on top of me and was, um, he tried to-" she had to pause. Hot tears were streaming down her cheeks. Chandler grabbed her into a hug. She tucked her head into his shoulder and cried. And cried. And cried. Having Monica cry made Chandler want to cry. His eyes watered but he wiped them away. He couldn't stand seeing this beautiful woman cry, so he stayed strong.

After calming down, Chandler spoke to her. "He didn't," he paused not wanting to say it. "Did he?"

She shook her head. "No, I punched him in crotch and wiggled myself from under him. And for safe measure I kicked him as hard as I could and then ran out the back."

Chandler thought for a moment. "You have to press charges." He said calmly.

"I couldn't."

"Monica," Chandler said grabbing her hands and looking into her eyes. "He beat you. And then tried to sexually assault you. You have to press charges."

She knew he was right but she didn't want to tell the police about it. She finally gave in, which was unlike her.

"I'll go with you, for comfort." Chandler said.

She nodded her head. She yawned and realized she was exhausted. She layed her head on Chandler's shoulder. "Thank you." She mumbled before falling asleep.

"You're welcome." He said. He kissed her forehead and drifted, slowly, into sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**_AN: omg I'm like flailing from the matteney reunion episode of go on! :D did you guys watch it?! I did! I loved it! Courteney looked gorgeous, as she always does... Haha :) _**

**_thank you guys for all the positive reviews! Helps motivate me to write :) _**

Chandler woke up to the sun lightly shining through the window. He figured it was about six. Monica still slept peacefully on his shoulder.

He, careful not to wake her, lifted her off of his shoulder and layed her down on the couch. He got up and went to the bathroom.

After relieving himself, he looked in the mirror. He looked tired; hell, he felt tired.

He shuffled from the bathroom to the kitchen and got a drink of water.

He almost fell asleep at the sink. He splashed a little bit of water on his face to wake himself long enough to walk back to the couch to sleep.

He walked back to the couch. Monica had a worried look on her face, as if she was having a terrible nightmare; she also looked uncomfortable.

Chandler picked her up and carried her to his bed. He cleared a spot to lay Monica on. He set her down, cautious not to wake her. He pulled the covers over her.

She still carried an upset, worried look on her face. Chandler leaned down and kissed her forehead, which calmed her, almost instantly.

He grabbed a blanket that was on the foot of his bed. He left his room, closing the sort behind him and layed back down on the couch.

~.~

Monica woke up, not knowing where she was. She sat up and rubbed her eyes to let them adjust to the light that was shining brightly through the curtained windows. She looked around the room for something familiar and right now none of it was.

Her head had a terrible pain. She just wanted to lay back down and sleep but she needed to get up.

After a few minutes of debating on whether or not she should get up, she forced herself out of the bed.

She crossed the somewhat small room and cracked open the door, poking her head out. She recognized the apartment.

_This must be Chandler's room, _she thought. She stepped out of his room and shut the door behind her.

"Morning." She heard Chandler call from the kitchen.

"Morning." Monica said through a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Uh it's about 10:30. Did you sleep ok?" Chandler asked.

Monica nodded her head and then winced from the pain. "Do you have any Tylenol?"

"Yeah. It should be in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom."

Monica went into the bathroom and opened the cabinet. It was a little disorganized but she found it. She grabbed two pills and set them on the sink to close the bottle. She put it back into the cabinet and cleaned it up a little.

She went back to the kitchen where Chandler set a glass of water for her.

"Thanks," she murmured and took the medicine. "Did you move me to your bed?" She asked.

"Yeah, you didn't look comfortable so I carried you to my room." He smiled sweetly. "Does your head hurt any worse?"

Monica shook her head slowly. "Not really, but my head is killing me."

Chandler walked over and gave her a hug and kissed her forehead lightly. "Better?"

Monica chuckled. "A little."

She looked up and couldn't believe how tall he actually was. He leaned down a little and Monica stretched her self up. They were inches apart, able to feel the soft breath of each other, when the door opened.

Chandler pulled away quickly and acted naturally. Well as natural as he could act.

"Hey Joe!" Chandler said. Joey peek behind him to look at this woman who looked way out of Chandler's league. He sighed. "Joe,this is my friend, Monica. Monica, my roommate, Joey."

"Hey, how you doin'?" Joey said, atempting to step around Chandler.

"Joey." Chandler hissed. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Chandler pulled Joey into the kitchen. He looked back over at Monica and smiled holding his finger in a just a minute pose. Monica nodded and sat down on the couch.

"Dude, how did you get a girl like _that_?!" Joey whispered, more loud than what a whisper should be.

"Shh!" He looked around Joey and at Monica again, who now had her eyes closed. Joey looked at Monica and back at Chandler, confused. "She has a headache." He whispered, then Joey understood. "I met her a couple months ago. But we- uh- ran into each other late last night. She was having trouble so she stayed the night here."

Joey nodded his head, but still had a confused look on his face.

"I'll explain more later."

"Did you guys hook up?" Joey asked.

Chandler sighed. "No Joe."

"Oh, cool." Joey slapped him on the back. "Well I have an audition, man. I only came back for the audition sheets. Good luck. I hope you laid." He grabbed his coat and the papers that were on the counter and left.

Chandler walked over and sat next to Monica.

"Could you take me somewhere today?" She asked without opening her eyes.

"Sure. Where to?"

"I need to go to my apartment so shower and get changed. Then, I want you to take me to the police station. I want to press charges against Pete."

**_an yeah I went there. Joey cockblocked them xD and now Monica is pressing charges, yay! Should he {Pete} be convicted? _**

**_Review and tell me what you though :) _**


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/n so I only have 5 chapters and already about 30 reviews :O you guys must really like this story ;) thank you for all the sweet reviews! xoxoxo_**

**_do any of you guys know how to insert a line break? I haven't figured it out yet.. Please help? :)_**

**_*please remember that they live in different apartment buildings. Their apartment sizes and the way they look stay the same.*_**

Chandler was getting ready so he could take Monica to her apartment and the police.

He stood and thought in the shower; mainly about the events that took place last night._ Wow_, he thought to himself. _She's so brave to be going through with this._

He got out and got dressed in a simple white t-shirt and jeans. He tidied up the bathroom as best as he could, and went back into the living room, without bothering to dry his hair.

Monica sat hunched on the couch, her elbows on her knees and her hands covered her face.

"You ready?" Chandler asked.

Monica sat up straight and cleared her throat. "Yeah." She stood up and walked across the apartment to the door.

Chandler followed close behind her.

The 20 minute walk was silent; but, it wasn't the awkward silence, it's was calming.

They walked up the 5 flights of stairs to her apartment. She unlocked her door and went inside. Chandler walked in behind her. It was very clean, organized, and smelled lightly of lavender and vanilla.

The second thing he noticed was the purple walls and the large French poster in the living room.

"You can sit on the couch here." She said, tucking her hair softly behind her ear. He sat down on the couch and she walked into the room that was to the left of the entertainment unit.

Chandler looked around the room. Everything seemed so organized, and clean. It was nice and felt like a girl would live here.

Monica came out in a grey and blue striped shirt, the sleeves ending right after her elbow, and a pair of dark jeans.

She let out a soft, uneasy sigh. "Chandler, I'm so nervous."

He understood where she was coming from, but was never really good at comforting. He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. "It's going to be okay." He said.

She pulled away and turned to him. "How do you know that? I mean, what if I tell them and they don't do anything about it. Or I tell them and then Pete lies about it and they believe him. What if- what if he doesn't get convicted." She started to raise her voice with each thing she was saying. She was completely scared about what was going to happen and thinking about it only made her cry. "What if he comes after me?" She said, through sobbing breaths. She leaned over, resting her elbows on her knees and held her face, letting many tears fall on her jeans.

"I won't let that happen." He said rubbing her back.

She slowed her crying and sat up to look at him in both shock and disbelief. "Promise?" She said quietly.

"I promise. If he gets anywhere near you, I will cut off his precious 'family jewels.'" Putting quotations around family jewels.

Monica couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you." She said hugging him.

"Anytime, mon. Anytime." He said kissing her forehead.

~.~

They arrived at the police station and Monica and Chandler walked up to the woman behind a little counter. She didn't look too old or young. Maybe about mid 30's

"Can I help you?" She asked politely.

"I want to report a crime?" Monica said, more in a question form than a statement.

The woman pulled something up on her computer and began to type something. "What was the crime or crimes?"

"Uhm, attempted rape and assault." She whispered, looking down and the counter, trying to hide her face. Chandler could tell she was tense. He grabbed her hand and gave a gentle squeeze. She sneaked a quick smile and relaxed a little.

The woman typed in something quickly. "Okay. What is your name and the name of the offender."

"Monica Geller." the woman typed it in. "Pete Becker." she typed again.

"Okay, go sit over there. We will call you back when someone becomes available."

They walked over to some of the seats, still holding hands. Monica took a few short breaths.

"I'm still so nervous." She said.

"I know, but I will be in the room with you."

She smiled at that thought.

"Ma'am." The woman called from behind the counter. "They're ready."

They both stood up and walked back to what looked like one of the investigation rooms, only not as scary.

They took Monica into the room and Chandler started to follow.

"I'm sorry, sir but you can't go in there." Said the man dressed in a uniform standing out side the door.

Monica turned around in horror. "Chandler!" She said.

"It's ok! Ill be right out here!" He pointed to a chair that was right beside the room. She nodded and reluctantly went back into the room. They shut the door and closed the blinds that were on the window in between the room and the hallway where Chandler sat.

All he could think about was Monica and the look on her face when he couldn't protect her just then. He made a promise to himself at that time (though he didn't realize it,) that he would always protect Monica.

**_a/n aw how cute did I end that? daw mushy stuff going on :3_**

**_Did you guys understand the family jewel thing? Haha I tried to make it funny but I'm not to sure how that worked out... Ha. Ha. Yeah I failed _**

**_whooply whoop. _**

**_okie dokie! Next chapter will have lots of law type stuff which I know nothing about, but we are going to try it out and see how well I do with it :D_**

**_How are you liking it so far? review and tell me ;) _**


	7. Chapter 7

**_So I was watching Jeopardy the other day and, ironically, there was a law category and, lets just say, I failed. Badly. So I am glad I looked some laws up :)_**

**_sorry I haven't been writing! my geometry grade is TERRIBLE and I've kinda been working on that. Kinda. Not really, but still :P_**

**_but in all reality, there is no reason for me to not write and I should do it more often because I really enjoy it!_**

**_Well theres something you learned about me, haha alright well I'm sure I'm boring you with my life, so onto the reason you are here! :)_**

**_*btw please remember that when Monica is explaining all of this, she is talking slow*_**

* * *

Monica shifted uncomfortably in her room was very unsettling and made her more nervous than what she already was.

It was all a dull color and somewhat well lit. There was the window with dark brown blinds, where Chandler was on the other side, on her left. Another window with blinds to the busy city streets of New York on her right. There was a small black tape recorder in front of her on the table.

Across from her, was the man giving the investigation. He looked old but not too old, maybe about mid 40's. He had a caring look in his eyes but his face was strict and serious. He dark hair that was graying on the sides.

Behind the investigator, was a mirror. What she saw was not herself. The woman in the mirror, rather than Monica's happy light blue eyes, had a dark, vacant, and empty stare. There were gray circles around her eyes and looked 10 years older than what she really was.

"Monica, could you tell me everything that happened?" The gentleman asked snapping Monica out of her gaze. He had said his name but she wasn't paying much attention to him. "And please do not leave out any details. If you want to make a legal case, we need to know everything that happened that night."

She nodded. She didn't really want to relive that night but she had to, to make a case against him.

"I was at the restaurant where I work, late, because Pete wanted me to close up. Pete owns the restaurant I work at.

As I was closing, he came in. I think he was stood up and was depressed about it because, well, I could tell by his demeanor. He didnt seem in the right state of mind, like normal Pete. He had a beer in his hand and he was stumbling a lot. And he was slurring his words together.

Anyway, he came in and slumped against the wall and he was going on about how girls suck or something like that, and I was trying to be the good guy. I told him we had to get him home and I was going to get a taxi for him so I kinda helped him get to more of a standing position. I wrapped my arm across his back but he screamed 'no' and then he, uh, grabbed my neck, and s-slammed my head against the wall."

She had to stop, calm herself before going further into the story. She took a deep breath and exhaled.

"He then started to kiss my neck and I was trying to push him off of me and he wouldn't stop so I slapped him. He acted like he was hurt and so I started to back away from him and he slapped me."

"What happened when he slapped you?" The man asked. He wasn't judging and he wasn't rude. He talked sweetly, as if, at any moment, Monica could break like a porcelain doll.

"He slapped me so hard that I fell on the ground. I'm pretty sure I blacked out."

He slowly nodded. "And what happened when you came to?"

Monica looked down at her hands, which were fidgeting in her lap, and she chewed on her lip. "Pete was on top of me, trying to undo his pants. He was also hold my arms down but I don't remember much..."

She trailed off and thought for a moment. "I, uh, I got my hand free somehow and I punched him. I got myself from under him and then I kicked him in the balls and ran out the back. He started to follow me, I could hear him, but I didn't turn around to look."

"Where did you go after that?"

"I ran into my friend and he let me stay at his apartment."

"Did Pete leave any marks on you?"

She nodded.

"Where?"

"I have a cut on my head, my back is sore and my side, too. Uhm, I don't really know if I have more because I haven't looked yet." she answered, truthfully.

"You'll need to be examined, okay? They'll make sure that nothing is too severe. We'll also get a few pictures of your physical injuries, to use against Pete, if you decide to go to court. Is this ok with you?"

Monica nodded. Having pictures done was not really ok with her, but if it helped against Pete it was fine by her.

**_hello! Sorry this chapter was really short but how did you like it? :) review and tell me what you thought :)_**

**_and with the pictures and stuff, sometimes they take them and use it to show what the person did... I read that somewhere..._**


	8. Chapter 8

**_I just recently started watching Doctor Who (already in the middle of season 5... i have no life) and it's my new favorite show, although it will NEVER. EVER surpass friends. :)_**

**_i also changed the rating from M to T.. I might change it back, not to sure yet._**

**_I am so so sorry i have kept you all waiting! i really have had no motivation to write anything at all. I have just sat and stared at this blank document thinking of something and then I came up with this brilliant idea! I wrote it down one day and then I went to write more the next day and all of it was gone! :O then I tried to remember what I wrote and I did so then I wrote it down and now there is this chapter! :D_**

* * *

The man walked Monica out of the investigation room. She was breathing unevenly and was nervous about this whole picture thing. Seeing Chandler sitting in the chair right outside the room, waiting for her, caused her to calm herself. She had only met this man one other time- but he was so sweet- and she trusted him with her life.

He stood up and walked over to her, pulling her into a tight, reassuring hug. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him back.

The police man led them further into the back and separated Monica and Chandler, yet again. They took her into a room with a large mirrored wall and snapped a few photos of Monica. This was the first time she had actually looked at herself in a mirror since that night.

She had a bruise on the side of her torso that was starting to turn a shade of purple. She had a scratch on the side of her face. There was a bruise on her shoulder; the same side where the bruise was at on her torso. She turned around so her back was facing the mirror, and she turned her head so she could see if anything happened to her back. There was nothing there but it was sore and she didn't know why. She turned back to face the mirror. She craned her neck upwards and looked at the red mark there.

All of it was so overwhelming.

She slipped her shirt back on and stepped out of the room.

* * *

Chandler stood outside the room they brought Monica into. A man dressed in the usual police uniform stood outside of the door. He looked about 23 with short black hair.

"You know, she's lucky." He spoke.

"Yeah?" Chandler said. He didn't really think that Monica was 'lucky' not one bit!

"Yeah, some women don't make it away from the guy in time. I'm saying she is lucky she got away."

"Yeah, she is." Chandler said.

There was a moment of silence and then the officer offered out his hand. "Officer Joseph Tribbiani. And you are?" He asked smiling.

Chandler took his hand. "Chandler Bing." He said calmly. He let go of Joseph's hand.

"You're lucky." he said. " That woman, is strong. And the way she looks at you, man, I can tell."

"Tell what?" Chandler asked, rather confused.

"How much she loves you. You two make a cute couple." he stated.

Chandler nodded and murmured thanks.

It made him think. Did people think they were a couple? He guessed not, since Joseph was the only person to say so. But as he thought he smiled. They did look good together...

The door to the room opened and Monica emerged. Chandler smiled at her and held his hand out for her. She, gladly, took it. They left the station and walked back towards Monica's apartment.

They arrived at her building around noon. They had been at the station for almost 2 hours. To Monica, it felt like longer.

They climbed the flights of stairs and stopped in front of Monica's apartment door. She fumbled with her keys and finally opened her door.

"Alright, well here you are." Chandler said looking into her apartment. "Safe and sound." He smiled at her and she weakly smiled back.

"Yeah, safe."

Chandler turned to walk away but Monica flew to hand onto his arm.

"Wait. Do you want to come inside for a bit?" She asked nervously. She hadn't let a guy into her apartment since Richard.

"Yeah, sounds good!" He smiled at her, which made Monica smile.

He went in and sat at the table. Monica sat across from. They talked for about an hour or so before realizing how hungry they both were.

"Do you want to go out?" Chandler asked.

"Like, like a date?"

Chandler nodded slowly. "Yeah. But if you don't want to we don't have t-"

"No, no. Date. It sounds fun!" Monica said, cutting him off.

"Ok! I will pick you up around 6. That sound like an okay time?" Chandler asked standing up. Monica nodded and stood up.

He pulled her into a hug, careful of her bruised body, and she hugged him back. "Thank you." She said into his shoulder hugging him a little tighter.

Chandler didn't say anything; he just kissed her forehead. they pulled apart from their hug. "Alright I'll be here at six to get you." He smiled at her and left her apartment.

Monica couldn't get the smile off her face. She was going on a date! With Chandler! A real date! She ran into her room and went through the closet looking for the perfect thing to wear. Something that showed off enough skin, but that wouldn't show her bruises.

She finally decided on a black, knee length dress. It would have showed off her bruise on her arm but that wasn't too bad. She grabbed her robe and headed for the bathroom.

She put her robe on the back of the bathroom door when the phone started to ring. She sighed and went to get the phone.

"Hello?" She said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Hey, Monica." the voice said. "It's Pete."

* * *

**_:O what an evil plot! mwahahaha :D that's right, Pete! Now review or ill make Pete come to her apartment! _**

**_I listened to a few songs while I wrote this.. most of which remind me, in a way, of Monica and Chandler._**

**_But Sweater Weather by the neighbourhood stuck out the best and I don't really know why.. But feel free to look it up :) it's a indie rock (I think) so if you like that type of music you would probably like this :)_**


	9. Chapter 9

_Last chapter_

_She finally decided on a black, knee length dress. It would have showed off her bruise on her arm but that wasn't too bad. She grabbed her robe and headed for the bathroom._

_She put her robe on the back of the bathroom door when the phone started to ring. She sighed and went to get the phone._

_"Hello?" She said, a hint of annoyance in her voice._

_"Hey, Monica." the voice said. "It's Pete."_

Monica froze.

How had he gotten her number? Why was he calling? "P-Pete, what are you- how did you-"

Pete cut her off. "Shhh! Listen to me. The other night," he breathed heavily. "I'm sorry. For it. Okay? Sorry." His voice suddenly changed from a sorry man, to something different. "But don't you dare tell anyone." He said angrily. "Don't tell the police. Don't tell your little man friend, Chandler. Don't tell your family." He calmed his voice and mumbled, "or you'll be the one who's sorry."

She stopped breathing. _Hold on_, she thought. _Did he say _Chandler_?! How could he have know about Chandler? _

"You got that?" He said.

Monica whimpered into the phone.

"Good. I hope to see you soon." There was something in his voice and it sounded like he was saying it through a smile.

He had said Chandler though. Monica _swore_ he said Chandler.

She really shouldn't have answered that phone call. She should have left it and let the machine get it. But she thought it was her mother calling or maybe even her grandmother. But no. It was Pete.

She felt sick.

-.-.-

About an hour later, Chandler picked her up for their "official" date.

"Wow, Monica, you look- wow." Chandler said when he opened the door.

Monica giggled softly. "Thank you, you look nice too." She smiled at him as he straightened his tie slightly.

"Ok, well, shall we?" He asked holding out his arm. Monica took it, gladly.

They walked to a nice, little Italian restaurant that wasn't too far away from Monica's.

The restaurant was quite busy but they were able to get a table close to the back, which was semi-private, except for the occasional waiter.

"How do you like this place?" He asked her. "I walked by it the other day and thought it looked good."

"It's nice!" She smiled. "Very quiet. It's nice." She said again.

They ordered their food and talked all the while. Chandler was energetic. He told her so many things. Monica half listened, she felt terrible for only listening half the time but Pete's voice kept ringing in her ears.

And the way he said Chandler's name. He was like a mad-man. It scared Monica.

Their food arrived. The whole time they ate, Chandler talked about his work and he told a few jokes, which brought up Monica's mood.

By the end of their dinner, she had nearly forgotten about Pete's phone call. Chandler grabbed the check and paid and they left the restaurant.

They began to walk back and Chandler grabbed Monica's hand and twined their fingers together. It was quiet which got Monica thinking again. How did Pete know Chandler's name? Why did he call? And what did he want out of this? Every couple of feet she would look over her shoulder to make sure no one was following.

"Monica, why do you keep looking over your shoulder? Is something wrong?" Chandler asked after he noticed her doing it for the fourth time in the last 10 minutes.

Should she tell him? Nah. "Yeah, everything is fine." She looked up at Chandler and smiled weakly. "Just a little tired."

"Ah well we are almost to your apartment." He squeezed her hand a little tighter.

They walked to her building and Chandler walked her up to her apartment.

"Thank you for joining me for dinner, Monica." Chandler said stopping in front of her door.

"Anytime." She said sweetly.

"Would you like to do it again next week?" Chandler said, quietly. Monica smiled and nodded her head. He grabbed her and hugged her. Monica hugged him back tightly, not wanting to let go. She looked up and at his face and leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips.

* * *

**_Sorry for the crappy chapter :( feel bad about that.. But what's gonna happen? I don't know...!_**

**_Seriously though, I have no idea._**

**_Ok so I'm going to write to get something off of my chest. I can't really do it on twitter because some of my friends follow me on there and they would question it and I don't really want to answer them. And none of them read this/ know I even write fanfic._**

**_So you guys can skip it or go over it or whatever I don't really care but I'm going to just, vent._**

**_I am a depressed person. I am. Really and truly honest. I don't know why because my life at home and stuff is not bad.. But I hate going to school because I'm "bullied" by people. Judged. Looked down at. Called names. Constantly getting stared at. Being called stupid. People don't like me and I don't understand why. I get called fat all the time in gym. Lazy. Fat-ass. Good for nothing bum. see why I would be depressed?_**

**_This all has a point. to help with my "depression" I escape. I write. I watch my favorite shows. I get my mind wondering away from the things I go through at school. And finding people that I can talk to and have similar likes as me helps. Because without it, I probably wouldn't be here._**

**_And you can say "oh she just wants attention" "none of this is true" blar de blar. And I won't care, because I've probably already heard it_**

**_Fandoms have literally saved my life._**

**_I know it sounds stupid and ridiculous but it really has._**

**_If I've ever talked to you, then I want to thank you for helping me._**

**_Alright, sorry, I just had to get that off my chest because I've never really talked about it to anyone.._**


	10. Chapter 10

**HI GUYS IM BACK :D DID YOU MISS ME?!**

**No? Ok.**

**i missed you all, if that changes your thoughts, lol :P**

**Suffered writers block /:**

**like, such a bad writers block, that I had to go back and re-read what I wrote to figure out what I was going to do. That and I forgot what I wrote. ^_^ whoops**

**but when I get a writers block like that I usually read and read and read! Like the other night I read for like 8 hours! (all of them were fanfictions) {from 9pm to 5am} and I read for an entire day, half fanfictions, half _True Blood_ books. ((Btw if you like those kind of books, I recommend them. They're really good and about 1000000x better than twilight)) and I also started to read Arthur Conan Doyle's _Sherlock Holmes_ books and I like those a lot too. I've recently started to want to read a lot and I don't know why. I blame tumblr, which I joined, and I'm on it everyday. So, yay tumblr.**

**Alright enough talking/writing about my life, now here's the story! I tried to make it longer than the other chapters but all in all, enjoy :)**

**OH AND I ALSO PROMISE THAT I WON'T TAKE SO LONG TO UPDATE BECAUSE I know that gets really annoying :)**

* * *

Last chapter

Monica smiled and nodded her head. He grabbed her and hugged her. Monica hugged him back tightly, not wanting to let go. She looked up at his face and leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Chandler was suprised. And it was all over to quickly. Monica pulled away and bit her lip lightly, waiting for some reaction. Chandler had a smile that was slowly making its way across his face.

"I hope we can do that again." Chandler said with a nervous laugh. "Well, I mean, we don't have to do that again. I mean. Not- not that it wasn't good, but-"

Monica cut him off by kissing him again, quickly. "Goodnight, Chandler." She said smiling. She opened her door and closed it behind her, sighing happily. She dropped her purse on the counter in the normal spot for her purse and went over to the couch. She didn't realize how tired she'd actually been. She plopped onto the couch and almost immediately fell asleep.

She woke up the phone ringing shrilly in her ear. She looked around, momentarily confused on where she was, then remembering she passed out on the couch. She squinted at the clock that was on the entertainment center. She couldn't really read the time.

She let the machine get it, too tired to actually answer it. She got up and went into her room and changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tanktop. She layed on the top of the covers and, as soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell asleep, again.

She woke up around 7:30, really glad she didn't have to go to work. She sat up and stretched. She got up from her bed and went into the kitchen. She poured herself a bowl of cereal. She heard a beeping noise coming from her answering machine.

She had 6 missed calls and 3 voicemails. She clicked the button and listened to the messages.

_First message at 7:16pm;_

_Hey Monica, it's your mom. Just wanted to remind you of the party we are throwing for your father this Saturday. Okay, that's all I wanted, bye. _

Mom sounds very annoyed, she thought. The stress of organizing a party for her father was probably something her mom couldn't take

_Second message at 8:33pm;_

_Mon, it's Richard. I just wanted to call and-_

Monica stopped the message mid-sentence. She didn't really want to hear what he had to say.

_Third message at 6:38am; _

_This is the New York Police Department calling for Monica Gellar. We wanted to inform you that we have Pete Becker in our custody. You can come to the department to positively identify him._

So they had Pete. Good. The bastard. She thought about calling Chandler to tell him, but, he was probably busy with his own things, and probably still asleep. She decided to get dressed and go to the police station by herself.

She decided she wanted to get there as fast as she could so she hailed a cab. She figured walking would take longer.

The ride was shorter than she expected. It seemed that every stop light between her apartment and the police department cooperated with her and the driver.

She went up to the front desk and told the same woman who was there the other day her name. They ushered her into the back and took her quickly into the room she only guessed was the other side of the 2 way mirror.

There in the center sat Pete at the table, looking quite cool and calm. Next to him was a blond woman dressed in a black dress suit. Probably his lawyer. They were whispering something back and forth.

"I'm Joey," the police man said, pulling Monica out of watching Pete and his lawyer engage in a conversation. He extended his hand to her and she shook it. "He hasn't said a word, besides to his lawyer." Joey said.

As soon as he said that, she watched as another detective (or so she guessed a detective) came into the room and unlatched the handcuffs that were holding him to the table. The woman and Pete stood up. Pete adjusted his suit tie (which surprised Monica that he was wearing a suit at almost 8 in the morning) and the woman flattened her skirt.

"What are they doing?" Monica asked, panicking a little.

The same detective that let him go, came into the room and whispered something to Joey.

"They're letting him go," Joey spoke slowly. "They don't have a sufficient amount of evidence to hold him here."

"No." She said horrified. "No they can't."

Joey looked down at the ground and then back at Monica. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but they can. They don't have enough against him to hold him."

Monica's head reeled. They should have enough. There's bruises. There could have been DNA at least somewhere. Then she remembered the wall in the kitchen at the restaurant. The restaurant.

"Wait," Monica said. "What about the video tapes at the restaurant? They're everywhere. 4 in the kitchen, each at different angles." Surely they had to be on there.

Joey's eyes popped a little in realization and he left the room and came back within 5 minutes. "They are on their way to the restaurant to retrieve the security tapes. You can wait out here until they come back."

Monica nodded and went out into the sitting area. It seemed to take forever, but they came back with a box about the size of a shoe-box. She stayed sitting in the chair, just breathing and thinking.

Oh, how she wished Chandler would come in and tell her it would all be better and it would all be over soon. She hoped it would be.

She didn't know the actual time it took them to go through the tapes, but after a very long while, a detective came out.

"Monica Gellar?" she asked. She had curly blond hair and was a little bit taller than Monica. She had dark brown pants on and a white blouse. Her heels clicked on the floor with each step she would take.

"Yes?" Monica asked standing up.

"Lets walk this way, shall we?" She said pointing off in a direction, and Monica didn't really care where they walked to. Sitting for as long as she did had made her legs fall asleep so walking was something she needed to do.

"From all the footage that we confiscated, they were from a few weeks ago. They searched the building, all around, and could not find the tapes from the night the incident happened. We believe that Pete may have taken those tapes. As of right now, we have a warrant for his apartment and our team is searching for them." She said.

Monica let out a small sigh of relief. She thought she was going to tell her some bad news.

"With that being said, you can go home." She said sweetly. "We'll call if we find something."

Monica hadn't realized they walked all the way outside. She nodded. "Thank you." she said. She turned around and hailed a cab. She climbed in and told him her address.

She smiled as she thought about it. They could have video evidence of it and he could be sentenced to jail.

She arrived in front of her building and she paid the cab driver. She let herself into the building and walked up the stairs, feeling her pockets for the keys.

As she neared her apartment, she saw some one sitting in front of her door.


	11. Chapter 11

_This is literally the longest chapter I've ever written, so enjoy!_

* * *

Monica saw the person and slowed her steps up the stairs. She didn't want to get to close in case she had to make a quick dash away. She stayed close against the wall and watched as the man got up and stretched. He slid something- a note, it looked like- underneath the door.

The person's back was still to her, so Monica ran up the stairs that went past her floor. She watched the man walk from in front of her door to the stairs and then disappear from her view.

She couldn't see his face because, of course, the light that was right above the stairwell was burnt out, as it had been for weeks.

Damn it, I told Mr. Treeger to fix the light bulb, she thought.

She waited a few more minutes and then climbed down the stairs. She walked over to her apartment door and unlocked it. She picked up the paper with her name scrolled neatly on the front of it. It was a in a rectangular envelope and was a little big stronger than regular paper. She flipped it over and opened it. Carefully, she pulled out what was inside.

_Mr. Leonard Green and Mrs. Sandra Green_

_request the honor of your presense_

_at the marriage of their daughter Rachel Karen_

_to Ross Eustace Geller_

_Saturday the fourteenth of July_

_at 3 o'clock in the afternoon_

_at the lighthouse of Chelsea Piers*_

_New York, New York_

_Great. My brother is getting married, for the second time. I hope Rachel stays with him._ Monica thought.

Monica and Rachel were best friends in high school. After they left, Monica moved to the city. Last thing Monica knew, she was marrying a guy named Barry.

Obviously that fell through.

Now she was marrying Ross. She didn't even know they were dating. Then again, her and Ross didn't really speak to each other much.

_That must have been Ross in front of my door. _Monica thought.

Inside the envelope was the RSVP letter to send back. Might as well mark it off now. She thought.

She wrote down her name and underneath the name line was the bringing a guest line. She didn't want to go alone but who could she even take? There was Chandler but they hadn't known each other that long. He probably wouldn't even want to go to a wedding.

Well, she could call him and see..

She walked over to the phone and dialed his number.

_Ring_

_Maybe I'll just ask him something else._

_Ring_

_I don't want to go by myself._

_Ring_

_He probably won't want to go anyway _

_Ring _

_Maybe he isn't home I'll just call back-_

"Hello?" A sleepy person answered.

"Hey, Chandler."

"Hey Monica," there was a pause. "What time is it?"

"It's about 10:30." Monica said looking at her watch.

"Oh, ok. What's up?" There was a small rustling noise, probably Chandler getting up out of bed.

"Nothing really." She paused and breathed. "I just got back to my apartment. I- uhm- I went to the station this morning." She nervously bit her lip.

"Do they have him?"

"They did, but they let him go and-" Chandler cut her off.

"Let him go?!" He said, just about screaming into the other end of the phone. Monica had to pull the phone away from her ear. "Why the hell would they do that?! Sick bastard is out freely walking around! He will probably start to-"

"Chandler! You didn't let me finish! They let him go but I reminded them of the surveillance video cameras. They went to the restaurant and got them but the videos from that night weren't there so they have a search warrant and they're searching his house."

There was a sigh of relief from the other end of the phone. "Good." and then a breathy "good." Then, a brief silence. "Monica if he ever contacts you, tell me."

Monica suddenly remembered the other night when Pete called. How she really wished she let it go to message.. "Yes, yes of course I would. Uhm the-"

"So are they going to call you when they find something?"

"Yeah, they are."

There was a quick release of breath. "Sorry, were you saying something a minute ago?"

Monica thought back a second. "Oh, right, yeah. Uhm what are you doing on July 14th?"

Silence, a flipping of a page. "Nothing. Why?"

"Oh, ok. Well would you like to go to a wedding with me?"

"Sure! Whose getting married?"

"My brother and my friend from high school." She didn't really know what else to call Rachel. They hadn't talked for a few years.

"Cool, I would love to, sounds fun. Where's it at?"

"The lighthouse of Chelsea Piers."

"That is a lovely place! I went to a wedding there once. Really nice. Shit, I have to go! Are you doing anything later?"

"No."

"You want to come over for pizza or something?"

Monica smiled. "Sure, I'd love to."

"Great! Ok, got to go, bye Mon."

"Bye, Chandler."

_Click. _

_Well that wasn't so hard_. She thought.

She didn't have anything to do so she figured she would do something she enjoyed- cleaning, starting with the kitchen.

ooOooOoo

Three hours later, and Monica had the kitchen all cleaned, the bathroom scrubbed and the living room spotless, not forgetting the windows and the closet area. She dusted all around the tv and anything else that could pick up dust.

She was so tired from all the cleaning. She went into her room and laid down. Just as her head hit her pillow, her phone rang and she groaned.

"Why do people keep calling me!" She said out loud, frustrated.

She grabbed the phone and huffed. "Hello?" She said trying to be cheery.

"Hey Monica! It's Rachel!"

She was a little shocked. "Oh, hi Rach. What's up?"

"Well I'm in the city today and I wanted to know if you wanted to go out for coffee? We haven't talked in a really long time and I wanted to know how you've been! How about we meet at the park in 1 hour?"

"Oh, uh, yeah okay." She said. "There's a coffee place close to my building, we could meet at, the place we went to when you came to my apartment before I moved in." _Three_ _years ago._

"Yeah, yeah! I remember the place! Great see you then!"

_Click_

_That was_._.. strange._

She layed on her bed for a couple more minutes, face in her pillow. _Better go get ready then_. She thought, but she didn't move, for about half an hour. She got off her bed, a little reluctantly, but she got up.

She grabbed a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt and headed for the bathroom. She set her clothes on the counter and turned the shower on.

She finished about 15 minutes later. She dressed and dried her hair. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do with it, either pulling it up or leaving it down and straightening it. She decided to go with the easiest choice; pulling it up.

She left the bathroom and went to her room and to the little makeup table. She put on eyeliner and mascara. It was just Rachel, she didn't need to put a lot of makeup on.

She grabbed a pair of shoes that went with her outfit and went into the living room. She sat on the couch and put them on.

She figured, since she was already ready, to head down to the coffee place.

_Few minutes early is okay_, she thought.

She walked into the coffee shop and saw Rachel sitting at one of the tables, waving her over. She already had a cup of coffee in front of her and a half eaten muffin.

Monica sighed. _This is going to take a while._

* * *

*Chelsea Piers is a real place and it is very pretty! I recommend looking it up so you have an idea of what this place looks like especially when the wedding chapter comes up.

**Sorry if my chandler and Monica characters are OOC, I tried to make them as close as I could and with Monica's cleaning, I think I got that down.. Anyway, if you have a problem with them I will try to make their characters like them selves in the next chapter :)**

**For those that write, have you guys ever gone back and read what you've written and your just sitting there like, 'wow this is ridiculous?' I have. I did it with this story and I'm like, 'what.. This is so corny...'**

**god. I'm glad you guys have put up with it though! Hugs to everyone \(^-^)/**

**How did you like it? Review and tell me!**

**also, if someone knows of any Mondler stories that they really like and recommend, tell them to me, :) i want to read some new ones **


	12. Chapter 12

Rachel was waving Monica over to the table. Monica strode over to the table, where Rachel was now standing. She made a strange squealing noise and hugged Monica tightly.

"How are you?" She asked excitedly, taking her seat.

"I'm great!" Monica lied. She was not great. Not at all. Her life, as of right now, was shit. And she was miserable, though it could be worse. And Chandler helped. She sat in the seat across from Rachel. "How are you?"

"I'm fantastic! Thanks." She took a drink of the coffee while doing a quick lookover at Monica. She set her cup down and spoke. "God, Monica! You look amazing!"

"Oh, uh, tha-thank you." She said a little self consciously. She didn't feel like she looked amazing. She was exhausted, even though she had slept. But the last time Monica and Rachel saw each other was when she was trying to lose the weight. "You look good too! You're glowing!"

"Thank you." She said. "How do you like living in New York."

"It's good. I enjoy it."

Rachel scrunched up her face. "But doesn't the constant noise get annoying?"

Monica shook her head. "No, you get used to it. Where are you living at?"

"Well, last year, Ross and I moved in together. And then he proposed on New Years and it was so romantic, I really wish you could have been there. It was so great. Do you have a boyfriend?"

"I- uh- no I don't. I've been busy so haven't had the time to go on dates."

"Well there's nothing wrong with that. So then is it only you coming to the wedding then?"

"No. I'm going to take my friend, Chandler."

"Chandler? Unique name." and Rachel dropped the topic. She changed it and talked about her wedding and the wedding plans.

Their colors were a light blue and dark shade of pink. Bridesmaids would be wearing the pink dresses and carrying light pink and white roses and Rachel would be carrying lilies. The men would be wearing light blue vests and ties.

"I would have had you been in the wedding but we hadn't talked for a while." She said.

"It's ok, I don't mind just watching." Monica replied.

Then, Rachel continued with wedding details and the venue and the meal and her dress.

After two and a half hours of talking about weddings, Rachel looked at her watch and gasped. "Oh my gosh! I have to go! Monica, really, it was great catching up! Ill see you in a few weeks!" She gave Monica a hug and walked out of the shop.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

She left the coffee shop and instead of going back to her apartment she decided to walk to Chandler's, which wasn't too far of a walk from her own. After 15 minutes of walking, she was in front of Chandlers apartment building. She buzzed for Chandler's apartment but there was no answer.

She decided to just go home and wait for him to call her. She turned around and saw Chandler getting out of a cab.

"Monica!" He called and waved. She waved back at him as he walked closer. "I just got off from work." he said. He let himself into the building and held the door open for Monica. She thanked him and walked passed and waited for Chandler to lead her up.

"what kind of pizza do you like?" Chandler asked unlocking his door.

"Oh I don't really mind."

They walked into his apartment. Flashbacks of the night of "the incident" flooded back into Monica's mind.

"You can sit whereever you want to." he said.

She sat down on the couch, opposite of where she sat from the other night. He picked up the phone and called a pizza place and then hung up as soon as he was done. "It will be here in about 30 minutes."

She nodded.

"Something wrong?" He asked walking over and sitting in the chair.

Monica shook her head slowly.

"Are you sure?"

Monica thought for a second and nodded, smiling at him. "Everything's good."

Chandler, not really believing her, but decided to drop it. "What did you do today?" He asked changing the subject.

"Went to the police station, cleaned and then went to meet an old friend for coffee. Not really too interesting. How was work?"

"It was boring. As usual. I'm going to quit next week." he smiled at the thought.

"That's great!"

Chandler nodded. "I turned in an application for a couple places for work and tomorrow I have an interview with one place."

"Really, Chandler, that is amazing! You'll do great."

"Thanks," he smiled at her. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Just water will be fine, thanks."

He went into the kitchen and grabbed a glass and filled it with water that he grabbed from the fridge, also grabbing a soda for himself.

"Have the police found anything against him yet?" He asked walking back into the living room. He handed her her water.

"If they have, they haven't called me yet." She said. She cleared her throat. "He contacted me." she said quietly.

"What?"

"Pete contacted me."

* * *

_Well I had no idea how to end that but that's sufficient right?_

_You know how difficult it is to write when you've forgotten like half of what you're writing?! Pretty damn difficult that's how._

_Ok firstly, I dont know what has made Monica and Ross not talk anumore.. Actually i do. :) It just you know plot twist, you'll know at the wedding. :)_

_I decided I'm going to make my chapters longer so that you have a lot to read before moving on to the next chapter, which, also, helps get this over sooner. I'm really planing on **ending this around 20 chapters**.. And other than that I've no clue what or where this story is going or how I'm going to end it ^_^_

_Ok I wanted to let y'all know that I have only ever cried 3 times reading fanfiction (1 was a friends fanfic, the other two were another fandom) and the times I did, I bawled like a freaking baby because they were sooo sad, then I thought, I should do that to my readers :D wouldn't that be fun?!_

_Would you guys read it though? I mean if a wrote a sad one? Let me know! :3_

_*i am writing another story, look out for it! it will be called Coming Home :)_


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